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It was as close to a perfect death as Nora had ever seen. Resting in the glow of the setting sun, surrounded by three generations of loving family members, ninety-two-year-old Mr. Chen slipped away with a sigh, a peaceful smile on his lips.
They'd removed the last of the monitors earlier that day, so there was nothing for Nora to do but offer her condolences to the family and wait for the doctor. She positioned herself near the door—out of the way, but close at hand if the family needed something—and waited for what came next. It didn't take long; it never did. Moments after Mr. Chen released his final breath, a startled-looking ghost in a white hospital gown materialized beside the bed.
It hadn't occurred to Nora during Josh’s 'welcome to life as a werewolf' spiel what acquiring the ability to see ghosts would mean for her. Neither Josh nor Aidan had ever mentioned just how many ghosts were created in a hospital...and how many of those stuck around. Of course, Josh, like her, had been worried about other things, and Aidan...Aidan had probably been doing this for so long he didn't even think about it anymore. (Over two hundred years, Josh said. An unbelievable length of time. Nora had tried to picture what that must be like, to have lived through the transition from horses to space shuttles, from manual printing presses to the internet. Her imagination had come up short.)
Mr. Chen stood stock-still for a moment, and then his mouth widened in a delighted smile. He looked around as the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren all gathered around his bed, grinning broadly, and said something to them in Cantonese. None of them responded. He spoke again, smile fading, and then started looking desperately from face to tearful face as his words were again met with silence. Nora was getting ready to step forward—not quite sure how she would explain it to the family, but not willing to leave him hanging—when his gaze fell on the motionless form on the bed and he froze. Hesitantly, Mr. Chen reached out, eyes widening as his fingers slipped through the hand of his former body. He pulled his now non-corporeal hand back and studied at it, then looked down at his body again.
Nora held her breath. She'd discovered over the past couple of weeks that this was often the moment of truth. If spirits were ready to move on, the realization that they had died seemed to be what triggered the appearance of their door. If no door arrived, well, Nora had quickly learned that Sally and her friends weren’t the only ghosts around. A visit to an old wing of the hospital had given her nightmares for days.
As suddenly as Mr. Chen himself had appeared, a softly-glowing door materialized beside him, the bright red paint a shocking splash of colour in the otherwise stark room. Mr. Chen took a deep breath and turned slowly to face it. He touched the knob and the door swung open, bathing him in light. With one last, lingering look at his family, he walked through into whatever lay beyond. Nora breathed out as slowly the door faded away.
"Lucky bastard," commented a voice behind her.
Nora jumped and spun around. Sally was standing by the wall, watching the spot where Mr. Chen's door had been with a wistful expression. "Sally!" Nora protested. He voice came out louder than she'd intended. She glanced over her shoulder at the family, but none of them were looking toward her. She turned back to Sally and firmly ordered her heart to stop racing. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.
Sally finally looked away from the vanished door and offered Nora a sheepish smile. "Hi!"
***
Nora sipped her coffee, savouring the warmth seeping through the cup. She'd told the nursing station she was on break and herded Sally down to the cafeteria, claiming a table in a back corner where she hoped her apparently one-sided conversation wouldn't be too obvious.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Sally, but…why are you here?"
"Oh, you know," Sally said. She slung a casual arm across the back of her chair. "An eternity to fill, not much to fill it with. And I figured, hey, Nora's new. At least to me. Why not hang out with her?"
Her tone was convincingly cheerful, but Nora thought she detected something else beneath it. Something more than simple boredom. Anxiety, maybe? Or fear. "Is everything—" she began and then stopped as the head of neurosurgery walked by. "Is everything okay?" she tried again once the doctor was past. "You aren't still having problems from your…body possession thing, are you?"
Sally shook head. "No, nothing like that." She twisted in her chair to face Nora straight on and rested her hands on the table, thrumming. "It's just…Aidan's off babysitting Suren, and Josh is reading biochemistry textbooks, and I was just so bored." Her tone brightened. "Besides, do you know how long it's been since I had another woman to talk to? I mean, don't get me wrong, the guys are great, but..."
Nora nodded. "I know what—" she began and then stopped again as a couple of orderlies walked past, commiserating over the hardship of double shifts. "How do Josh and Aidan do this?" Nora whispered in frustration once the orderlies were gone.
"Usually we just sort of talk in the hall," Sally said. "And get interrupted a lot."
"That sounds really annoying." Nora was annoyed and they hadn't even been at it five minutes yet.
"Once Josh used a Bluetooth headset. Pretended he was talking on the phone so people wouldn't think he was crazy."
That was a good idea. "I'll try to remember to bring mine next time," Nora said.
"We could go outside," Sally suggested.
"No, it’s a nice day. Too many people out there."
"How about downstairs? To that room where Josh changes? No one ever goes there." Sally frowned. "Unless you don't want to go down there. I realize that's probably not your favourite place right now."
It really wasn’t. "I—" Nora began, then paused once more as two nurses walked by, laughing. When they were gone, she stood up and picked up her coffee. Bad memories or not, the basement had to be better than these constant interruptions. "Let's go."
She hadn't been down there since that night. Or rather, since early the following morning, when Aidan had come down to check on Josh and found her lying on the hallway floor. Someone, she noted absently, had cleaned up the blood. Otherwise it hadn't changed at all.
Sally pulled herself up on the gurney at the edge of the room and crossed her legs. Nora watched, fascinated.
"How do you do that?" she asked. "I mean, you can barely lift a piece of paper, but you can sit on things?"
Sally shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "One of the mysteries of being me." She settled her sweater around her. "Aidan thinks it's because my subconscious mind expects me to be able to sit on things, so I can. Like, I'm not really sitting on things; I'm just kind of…levitating?"
"Aidan's the expert on these things?" Nora asked, looking around for a seat of her own.
"Closest thing I have, anyway," Sally said.
There were some old chairs in the corner. Nora set down her coffee and went over to look at them. "What about other ghosts?" she asked. "Like Stevie and his friends?" It looked like the chairs had taken a few hits from Josh's wolf, but a couple of them seemed salvageable.
Sally grimaced. "Sure, I've learned some things from them. Like how to have nightmares and how to shred other ghosts." She sighed. "Most ghosts aren't all that philosophical, you know? They don't worry about how we can do what we do. Plus, the ones that stick around? Most of them aren't exactly sane."
"Really?" Nora pulled off one of the less-damaged looking chairs and moved it over so she could sit facing Sally, then reclaimed her coffee and sat down gingerly. The chair held.
"Yeah," Sally said. "Apparently the longer ghosts linger on earth, the more they...break down."
Nora remembered what she had discovered in the deserted hospital wing. Was that what had happened to those ghosts? Had they been trapped on earth for too long and lost all connection to reality as a result? "Is there really no way to move on if you miss your door? You get one shot and that's it?" Josh had told her about Sally missing her door. He hadn't said anything about ghosts breaking down as a result.
"Maybe there's another way, but I don't know what it is." Sally said. "I really feel like the afterlife ought to come with an instruction manual. Or possibly a YouTube channel. Because this whole trial and error thing sucks."
Nora thought about that night in the woods, claws and teeth and fur and anger, and fought the urge to laugh. She wasn't sure if she'd stop if she started. "I know what you mean."
Sally's eyes flickered in acknowledgement. "So what about you?" She uncrossed her legs and leaned toward Nora. "How are you doing with the whole werewolf thing? I mean, God, that must have been a shock, seeing Josh change. And then finding out you're one too."
"It was a bit of a shock," Nora agreed. More than a bit, if she were being totally honest. "There are some days when it still doesn't seem real. I wake up and remember and I feel like it must have been a dream. But then…" She pulled up her sleeve. Ran a finger along the scars. "It's a lot to take in. And not just the werewolf part—all of it. Werewolves and vampires and ghosts and I don't even know what else. All those things that go bump in the night, and they're real. Or some of them are."
"It took me a while too," Sally said. "Back when I first...I had a hard time even realizing I was dead. I mean, I watched them carry out my body, but it didn't really seem like me. Because I was still there. I spent hours shouting at Danny, hoping he would hear me. And he didn't and I just...I couldn't deal."
Like poor Mr. Chen. Except he'd been lucky enough to get his door almost immediately. "That must have been awful."
"It was," Sally agreed. "I don't think I really understood that it was real until my wake. Watching everyone stand around and cry...I think that's what did it for me."
"I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you."
"You know what's really crappy?" Sally asked. "I was too shocked to really pay attention to what they were saying. I mean, it's everyone's dream right? Finding out what people really think of you by going to your own funeral? And I have no idea what anyone said."
"That sucks," Nora agreed.
"I know, right?" Sally leaned back against the wall. "Once in a lifetime opportunity and I blew it."
"It must be nice to know you had so many people who cared about you, though," Nora suggested. She wondered who would come to her funeral if she died. Her family, but she had no interest in hearing what they had to say about her. A few colleagues. A few friends. Josh. It was a depressingly short list.
"Yeah, it was," Sally said. "Would have been nicer if more of them had realized what an asshole Danny was and helped me before I died, but at least they showed up for the funeral."
"People don't know what to do in those situations," Nora said. "They just want to avoid making things awkward." Her hand settled on her stomach. Her other set of scars. At least Josh had inflicted his marks by accident.
"You want to know what's awkward?" Sally asked. "Dying at twenty-three in your pajamas. That is awkward."
Nora had been lucky there. Scars or not, she'd gotten out alive. "It could have been worse," she suggested. "At least you were wearing pajamas."
Sally's eyes widened. "Oh, I don't even want to think about that," she said. "An eternity naked? Or in one of those hospital gowns you guys make people wear. Does no one ever consider the dignity of the poor ghosts who are stuck in them?"
"I don't think that was a priority in designing them, no," Nora said. She glanced down at her watch. "Sally, I'm sorry. I have to get back to work."
"That's okay," Sally said. "Maybe I'll go study biochemistry with Josh."
She sounded uncharacteristically dejected, and Nora thought once again about the shadow she seemed to be carrying. "Do you want to come with me?" she asked impulsively. "Learn a little medicine? I mean, obviously, I couldn't talk to you when I was with a patient, but…"
Sally brightened immediately. "Really? That would be awesome."
"Great," Nora said. She tried to remember if she had anything scheduled that afternoon which would completely horrify Sally. She didn't think so. "Let's go."
***
The screaming began while Nora was finishing up her examination of Mrs. Leibowitz. The sound was a high-pitched wailing, like a young and panicked child. Nora murmured a reassuring word to Mrs. Leibowitz and raced out the door, following the inarticulate shrieks down the hall.
"Does nobody else hear that?" Sally asked beside her.
The screaming was coming from a door just around the corner. Nora skidded to a stop outside it and looked around. Sally was right. No one else was even looking in their direction.
"Be careful," Sally warned her.
"The patient in here is comatose," Nora said quietly. "There shouldn't be anything dangerous."
"Maybe he woke up."
After what she'd experienced lately, Nora wasn't entirely confident he hadn't. She opened the door a few inches and peered inside. The source of the screaming was immediately visible: a young girl was pressed up against the wall, mouth open in a continuous, terrified cry. Nora opened the door wider and headed straight for the child.
"It's okay, sweetheart," she said soothingly. "You're okay." She started to kneel in front of the child when she caught a flash of movement through a gap in the curtains surrounding the bed. Spinning, Nora yanked the curtains open. A man leaned over the patient in the bed.
"What are you doing in here?" Nora demanded. "You're not—"
The man raised his head. Ink-black eyes gazed out from under pale eyebrows. Blood stained his chin. Nora stepped back involuntarily, heart pounding. Vampire. She tensed, ready to grab the child and run, and then her eyes fell on the patient in the bed, neck laid open.
"Nora, get out of here!" Sally cried.
Nora ignored her and forced herself to step forward, making sure she stayed between the vampire and the girl. "Get away from my patient," she snapped. She was proud that her voice barely quavered.
Amusement flashed across the vampire's face. And then he moved, shoving Nora up against the back wall with one hand over her mouth and the other around her neck. Between shallow, strangled breaths, Nora noticed that the screaming had stopped. She hoped that meant the child had run.
"Still two weeks 'til the full moon," the vampire whispered. He licked his lips slowly, cleaning them of blood. "You should have waited, little wolf."
"Get away from her!" Sally screamed. She pounded fruitlessly at his back. "You'll regret this. When Aidan finds out—"
Nora didn't hear the rest. The hand around her throat tightened, cutting off her air. She managed to raise her arms and shove him. Hard. It was like shoving a wall. I'm going to die, she realized, still struggling. All that worrying about my future as a werewolf, and none of it matters, because I'm going to die before I ever turn again. She remembered the crush of bone between her teeth, the taste of vampire blood, and wished—just for a moment—that she'd never changed back. In a world of monsters, sometimes there were benefits to being one yourself.
The fingers tightened further. Her vision blurred. In the distance, she could still hear Sally's voice, but she couldn't make out what was said.
And then, suddenly, the pressure was gone. Nora stumbled. Gasped. Saw her attacker crumble into a pile of dust at her feet.
On the other side of the dust stood a dark-haired woman with a wooden stake.
"Are you hurt?" the woman asked. Her voice was cultured and lightly-accented. Trained. Like a news broadcaster.
Nora felt her throat carefully, wincing. "I'll be fine. Thank you." She'd also be answering questions about those bruises for a while.
She studied the woman in front of her, trying not to shiver under that dark gaze. There was something off about her. A weight and coldness that suggested she was older than she looked. There was something familiar about that look, the age carried in the eyes. Aidan.
"It's a sad day when vampires freely attack nurses in their own hospitals." The woman’s tone suggested she found it more diverting than concerning. "I'm Suren, by the way," she added. She slipped the stake into the pocket of her sleek black coat and offered her hand. Nora took it automatically before the name registered.
Suren. The vampire Aidan was assisting in taking control of Boston. Josh and Sally had had endless fun with the idea of a vampire princess, mocking her with faux-accents and mincing walks. None of their jokes seemed funny in the face of this elegant, deadly woman.
"You're Nora Sergeant, right?" Suren continued smoothly. "And Sally Malik?" She looked at them each in turn, holding on to Nora's hand just a little longer than was comfortable. "I've wanted to meet you both for a while."
Sally moved closer to Nora. Her skin was as ashen as the night after her possession episode. Sally asked, "Does Aidan know you're here?"
"Of course not," Suren said. "He would never have approved of me interfering with his mortal friends."
"I think he'd probably be okay with you saving Nora's life," Sally said.
"I'm glad I was here at the right moment."
"It was very…convenient," Nora agreed. A little too much so. She wondered what that vampire had been told. What he had been ordered to do by his new leader.
"Timing is everything," Suren observed.
Enough games. "What do you want?" Nora asked bluntly. Vampire princesses were probably accustomed to a more tactful approach, but talking hurt, and the appropriate level of fear hadn’t yet returned after Nora’s near-death experience.
Suren didn't seem to mind. She pivoted slowly, studying the room as if it were a particularly baffling puzzle, and then turned back to Nora and Sally. "I wanted to see what...and who...Aidan is abandoning us for. What is so compelling about this world, this life, that he would turn his back on his entire community?"
"You'd really have to ask him," Nora said.
Suren tilted her head, studying Nora from beneath long, dark lashes. "There's no reason for either of you to fear me. I need Aidan's support to succeed, and I know I won't have it if I go around slaughtering his friends." She smiled, dagger-sharp. "I am not my mother."
"I'd say that's a good thing," Sally said. "From what Aidan says heard, your mother's pretty scary."
Suren laughed bitterly. "My mother is the ultimate vampire. Vicious and calculating and controlled. Everything Aidan once was. Everything she tells me I should be." She was silent for a moment, mouth twisted into something unpleasant, and then her faced cleared. She smoothed a wrinkle from her sleeve. "It was nice meeting you both. Perhaps we'll do this again sometime."
Her heels clicked against the polished floor as she walked away.
Once she was gone, Nora leaned against the wall, weak with relief.
"God," Sally said.
"That's who Aidan's working for," Nora said. "That's what Aidan is." She swallowed hard, and wondered if she should be sharpening stakes. Or would Aidan take that the wrong way? She wasn't sure she cared right now. She looked down at the pile of dust at her feet. She would have to clean that up herself—there was no way she could explain it to an orderly. And—
Her head shot up. "The little girl," she said, horrified that she'd forgotten. "What happened to the girl?"
"It's okay," Sally said comfortingly. "She wasn't hurt. She can't be hurt. Not by a vampire. "
"She's a ghost," Nora realized. "That's why no one else heard her screaming."
Sally nodded. "I'll try to find her in a little while. See if I can talk to her. She was pretty scared. I'm not sure…I think she might have been here a while."
Nora shook her head. "How am I going to do this, Sally?" she asked helplessly. "How am I supposed to work surrounded by trapped ghosts? How am I supposed to work with vampires wandering the corridors, attacking my patients?"
"You take it day by day," Sally said. "And you lean on Josh and Aidan and me when you need help." She kicked at the dust. Her foot went straight through it, leaving the pile undisturbed. "You don't have to do it alone."
"Yeah," Nora said. She started to ask whether Sally thought they should tell Aidan about this incident, and then stopped. If she told Aidan, then she would have to tell Josh, and that meant another round of guilt and self-recrimination. She wasn't sure she was up for that just yet. "I'll be finished my shift in a couple of hours," she said instead. "And after today, I could really use a drink. Do you want to come with me? Keep me company?"
"Absolutely," Sally said. "But you realize you'll look like you're drinking alone, right? Guys will be hitting on you all night."
"That's okay," Nora said. "I'm pretty sure that once they realize I'm having a conversation with myself, they'll go away."
"Maybe we should pick up your headset first," Sally said.
Nora shrugged. "Let 'em wonder."